Don't be scared

I always think there's nothing better than chicken in pie. In the pie calendar, this is the time to be sticking pastry lids on things - lovely meat or ripe autumn fruits - to make some heavy, more sustaining food. Pies and tarts are fantastically easy. With pastry, just follow the simple rule: everything has to be cold - the butter, the surface, everything. People are frightened of pastry, thinking it's time-consuming, but it's not: you can easily break up the preparation time. Roll out the pastry and put it in the case. Then put it in the fridge for a day or two, giving you plenty of time to make the filling.

You can get creative with pastry, too. I have a recipe for a cocoa pastry which is very easy to make: you just sieve in cocoa powder with the flour. Also, if the pastry gets cracks in it, don't worry, pastry changes each time you make it according to the temperature of the room, your hands, and so on - and anyway, it's going into the bottom of the dish, so who's gonna see it? Just join up the cracks and make sure you put enough pastry in the dish to compensate for any shrinking.

There are one or two utensils that are really useful for making pastry and pies. I have a circular chopping board with a marble section for pastry. The marble is fantastic for keeping the pastry cool, while the circular board makes it easier to roll out. People tend to invest in ceramic baking beans, but I just use dried pulses - just as effective. If you don't have those, then some gravel or stones on top of the foil or greaseproof paper are great too, heavy enough to prevent the bottom of the pastry case rising too much when you are baking blind (cooking the pastry before adding the filling).

· Tamasin Day-Lewis's Perfect Pies and Tarts With Tops On are published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson